SAARA of VA’s mission is to transform Virginia communities through hope, education, and advocacy for addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery. SAARA is the leading voice in Virginia on substance use disorder and recovery. We provide individuals and communities with education, advocacy, and support.
We support the proposed co-prescribing rule (18VAC85-21-70) regarding the treatment of chronic pain with opioids that states: “Naloxone shall be prescribed for any patient when risk factors of prior overdose, substance misuse, doses in excess of 120 MME/day, or concomitant benzodiazepine is present.” The rule will ensure that those receiving exceptionally high doses of opioid medication are educated on the potential risk for overdose. People receiving high doses of opioid medications are at elevated risk for overdose and providing a reversal agent can reduce that risk significantly.
We are asking the Board to update this rule by changing the term “naloxone” to either:
Main Points